05 JUILLET 2018: Bayburt - Chapel St Leonards - Bayankhongor - Vulci -
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TURQUIE – 
Bayburt - Researchers will start excavation work to completely uncover an underground city located in northeast Turkey's Bayburt province, according to Bayburt Director of Culture and Tourism Bekir Kurtoğlu. Initially discovered in 1999 during construction work, researchers first found around 20 rooms with 2-meter-long ceilings in the underground city. Researchers concluded that the rooms were built solely by carving rocks without any additional construction materials. Soon after, it was realized that the rooms were not the only underground structures as archeologists also found tunnels running underground. Around 1,200 meters of the underground tunnels have been excavated so far but it is believed that the tunnels run as long as 7,500 meters, running from Bayburt Castle to Kırzı town. During the late Middle Ages, Bayburt was a stronghold of the Genovese and its strategic location between the Empire of Trebizond in the Black Sea, and Persia boosted its prosperity in the 14th century. Other historical landmarks in the city include a 12.3 acre ancient site, tombs, mosques, baths and the Baksı Museum. Famous Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi and Venetian explorer Marco Polo are believed to have visited Bayburt in the 16th and 13th centuries, respectively.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Chapel St Leonards’ beach - The discovery of Roman pottery on Chapel St Leonards’ beach near Skegness could point to the site of a lost Roman settlement, experts say. The fragment was found by a dog walker in the sand at the end of June - making it the third Roman artefact unearthed there in just a few months.Back in December, a Roman coin and part of a Roman brooch were also found in Chapel St Leonards. As reported by this paper in September last year, the lost Roman settlement was believed to be somewhere in Skegness - with experts suggesting a Roman tower or fort could have been sited there. It has long been known that ‘Old Skegness’ was swallowed by the sea in the 1500s, so any history of the area before that may have gone with it. But now it seems the ‘X’ which marks the spot could be closer to neighbouring Chapel St Leonards. Other archaeological artefacts found on the beaches at Chapel St Leonards in recent years include medieval beads, pendants and coins, a medieval silver mount depicting Mary holding the lifeless body of Christ, and an iron age bracelet.
MONGOLIE – 
Bayankhongor - Researchers led by William Taylor of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History examined the remains of 85 horses buried between 1200 and 700 B.C. in Mongolia by the nomadic Deer Stone–Khirigsuur culture and found evidence of early equine dental care. In the skull of one of the horses, dated to 1150 B.C., a tooth sticking out at an odd angle bears a cut mark that suggests someone may have used a stone to form it into a shape that would be more comfortable for the horse. The researchers also discovered that after 750 B.C., when the herders of the Deer Stone–Khirigsuur culture began using metal bits in horses’ mouths instead of ones made of wood, rope, or leather, some horses required additional dental care, to remove remove a functionless premolar known as a wolf tooth, which can interfere with wearing a metal bit. “It’s really shocking and cool that [wolf-tooth removal] directly accompanied the introduction of metal bits,” Taylor said.
https://www.livescience.com/62974-oldest-horse-dentistry-on-record.html
ITALIE – 
Vulci - An exceptional discovery was made at the Vulci archaeological site, where a treasure of coins from the 3rd century B.C. was found intact, according to a statement from the site's scientific department. The discovery included 15 large bronze coins, which were likely originally stored in a leather bag. They were found above the closing tile of a burial site together with an iron strigil (a tool that was used to clean the body) and numerous ceramics, all clearly part of a funeral ritual for two deceased. One of those buried there, who was male, had another coin similar to the others placed on his left shoulder together with a bronze clasp, along with other objects in iron and ceramics that completed the burial kit. His death may have been the result of an iron object, possibly a spear, found near the skull. The second of the two buried there was cremated and the incinerated bones were wrapped in a shroud that was likely closed with a bronze clasp that was found next to it and was nearly identical to the other. Other objects were found in the vestibule of the tomb together with another burial, including a small circular pyx (chalice) with a lead cover. The coins are part of the first Roman issue and have the prow of a boat on one side and the image of the god Janus Bifrons on the other, representing the passage of the dead from the world of the living to the underworld. Carlo Casi, the scientific director at the Vulci Foundation, said the discovery is part of "extensive and systematic investigations" that have been underway for years at the Poggetto Mengarelli necropolis. "More than 100 tombs have been excavated, dating between the middle of the 8th century to the 2nd century B.C.," Casi said. "In this specific case, the study of the context is interesting, because it allows us to better define the social continuity between the Etruscans and the Romans, following the conquering of Rome that took place in 280 B.C.," Casi said.
The excavations took place in a collaboration between the Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Art and Landscape for Metropolitan Rome; the province of Viterbo and Southern Etruria; the Vulci Foundation; and the City of Montalto di Castro.
